


Poltergeist

by AllTrekkedUp



Category: Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Genre: Cruise Ships, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Gen, Haunting, Love Confessions, M/M, Mystery, Newspapers, Post-Divorce, Reporters, Violent Ghosts, turns into a real relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28813413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllTrekkedUp/pseuds/AllTrekkedUp
Summary: Carl and Tony go on a cruise to try to figure out what is causing strange things to happen on a cruise ship.  However, there are a few surprises along the way.
Relationships: Carl Kolchak/Tony Vincenzo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

'It was a snowy afternoon in Chicago, not at all unlike the past two snowy afternoons before it. I was sitting at my desk in INS and reading over a wire that had just come through, it was the second of it's kind in two days. A cruise ship called the Coral Princess had reports of blood coming down the walls in the captain's dining room, plates being thrown across the room by unseen hands and people having an overwhelming feeling of oppressive sadness. Oh the cruise line had nothing to say on the matter but it was enough to get me so interested that I was willing to put my career on the line by going to ask Vincenzo for permission to fly to Florida and catch that ship to see these things for myself'.

Carl Kolchak walked into his boss, Tony Vincenzo's office with a lot of boldness and little hope to broach the subject of what the wires in his hands contained. Tony looked up at him from his editing papers and smiled at his most strange reporter. He had developed feelings for Carl over the past year, he had come to realize this after his divorce and he was just waiting for the right moment to tell him.

"Well, Carl. What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Well, have you seen these Florida reports?" Carl asked. He handed them across the desk to him and then sat down. 

"No I haven't. I'm a little busy right now, you want to tell me what they say?" Tony asked. 

Carl licked his lips and thought for a moment of how to start this conversation in a way where it wouldn't get cut off immediately. "Well, it seems there has been quite a bit of trouble on a cruise ship called the Coral Princess. Strange occurrences that the cruise line is denying, but the passengers insist are happening," he began.

Tony made face, he didn't like where this was headed. "Just what kinds of things, Carl?" he asked.

Carl pursed his lips before saying anything upon seeing the look on Tony's face. "Blood coming out of the walls and dinner plates being thrown by unseen hands."

"Carl, I-"

"Before you start, there have also been reports of people's emotions being altered when they are near the space and feeling physically ill," Carl added quickly.

Tony was shaking his head. "People have mood swings all the time, and they are on a ship, they probably got seasick," he explained.

"Alright, I'll give you that one. But what about the plates and bleeding walls?" Carl asked, leaning forward in his sleep.

"Once again it's a ship, the plates probably fell due to rough seas," Tony said.

"And the walls?" 

Tony started shaking his head again. "I don't know. Maybe the people that saw that are always looking for trouble like you," he said.

Carl pointed a finger at him. "Ah-uh! Can't explain that one away can you?" he smiled.

"Alright, Kolchak. What is it that you want from me? Why bring these wires to my attention?" Tony asked. He leaned back in his chair to look at his reporter.

Carl dropped his head a moment. "Well, I don't guess you'd give me the green light and company funds to go down there and check this out?" he asked.

Tony looked at him a few seconds before laughing so hard he hit the desk with his hand.

Carl adjusted his hat and got up. "I didn't think so," he said, leaving.

Ron Updyke and Miss Emily were looking at him as he came out and closed the door on the laughter. 

"What happened, Kolchak? Did you ask for a raise?" Ron chuckled.

Carl made a face as he headed back for his desk. "No. I asked him if he would consider dating you. Since we all know you'd love to be in bed with the boss," he grinned.

Ron went pale. "You- you wouldn't dare! You couldn't!" he stammered out.

Carl just continued to grin and then sighed as he sat down to his typewriter and delve into the mundane story he was assigned. When their take-out lunch arrived Carl had no more than gotten his sandwich to his mouth than Tony was calling for him to come to his office. Carl kept a sandwich in one hand and story in the other and headed for the boss on the other end of the room.

"Got my assignment done before the end of the day. You have something else for me?" he asked, taking a bite of his lunch.

"I do. I just got off the phone with New York and looked over these out of town wires about the latest on that cruise ship you were telling me about," Tony said. He had papers spread out in front of him and a cup of coffee in his hand.

Carl looked interested. "The latest? What's happened?" he inquired.

Tony handed him the report. "It seems a man couldn't handle the oppressive feelings he was having and jumped off the ship, killing himself," he answered.

"Oh no! What is the cruise line saying?" Carl asked, looking at the wire.

"They are just saying that the man was suicidal. Which could be true, but his wife claims he was happy and enjoying himself the day before. She wants answers and she's being snowballed by the officials. New York doesn't like it, they want a reporter on it and I suggested you," Tony informed.

Carl looked shocked, standing open mouthed. "You- you did?" he asked.

"I did. And they gave the go ahead- with conditions," Tony said, raising a hand at Carl's smile.

Carl sighed. "Alright. What are they?" he wanted to know.

"That you report the facts and try not to piss off the people in charge that you'll be investigating," Tony made clear.

Carl tried not to roll his eyes. "Is that all?" he asked.

"And that you have your editor with you to keep you in check and control the company funds they are sending," Tony said. It was a role that he had asked for so they could be together and he could perhaps tell him his feelings for him while they were away.

"Well… I guess that's not too bad. Although I work alone, so stay out of the way when I am working- boss," Carl flashed a smile.

"We'll see about that. We leave on a plane in the morning so you'd better go home early and pack," Tony informed.

Carl eagerly agreed. He couldn't believe he would actually get to pursue this story, even with Tony along it would be good.


	2. Two

Chapter Two

'They like to say that they made airplanes for luxury and comfort- they lied. Vincenzo and I had seats three rows apart in economy class and I had an aisle seat next to a loud talking Texan who loved to brag about his land, his money and his young wife. I was worn out by the time we landed and getting off that flight was a blessing but I thought Tony was going to pop a vein trying to get us a cab. We had a hotel where we would be staying the night at before embarking on the cruise at nine-thirty in the morning. New York had used contacts to get us an interview with one Mrs. Jamie Petro, widow of the deceased, at dinner that evening. I was looking forward to hearing her story though I felt sorry for her loss'.

The hotel room had double beds and a sliding glass door to a balcony that looked out at the ocean where the ship they would be getting on was docked at port. Kolchak was standing out on it taking some pictures for the story, Tony stepped out to join him and took a deep breath of sea air.

"This is a beautiful view, Carl," he said.

"It sure is. I think I'll have good pictures," Carl commented.

Tony looked at the profile of the man beside him and smiled with fondness. "You have a one track mind, don't you?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Carl asked, looking up.

Tony chuckled. "I know we're on assignment but try to relax a little, okay?" he asked. He patted Carl's shoulder.

Carl wasn't used to his boss being in a good mood. "I'll try," he said.

"Good. Now dinner's at six and it's now four-thirty, I think I'll try to catch a nap. Wake me at five-thirty so I can freshen up before we leave alright?" Tony asked.

"Sure thing. I might stretch out myself, I generally don't nap but that flight was terrible," Carl said. They made their way back inside and shut the door.

"God it was hell!" Tony agreed. He slipped off his shoes and laid back on the bed closest to the balcony.

Kolchak sat back on his bed too, legs stretched out in front of him, back against the headboard. He began to think about what the coming days would bring, what they would see and come up with as the truth of the matter. …

The next thing he knew he was being shaken awake by Tony who was dressed and looking nice for the evening in a dark blue, three piece suit.

"We have to meet our contact in twenty minutes, Carl," he informed.

"We do? What happened to me?" Carl asked, rubbing his eyes.

"You napped. It's lucky for us I woke up fifteen minutes ago or we might have been late," Tony said, straightening his tie.

"Wow… I never nap. In fact, I usually have a hard time sleeping," Carl said. He got up and started making himself presentable. 

"Well I guess you were tired," Tony said.

"Sometimes it doesn't matter how tired I am," Carl said in a low tone.

Tony looked over at him, concerned. "How come?" he asked.

Carl slowed in his task of re-tying his tie. "I've seen a lot of things, Tony. Terrifying things. I don't feel safe at home alone sometimes," he admitted.

Tony felt a rush of protectiveness flood him. "Well you can feel safe with me. No matter what happens I'll take care of things on this trip," he assured.

Carl actually felt comforted by those words, even though he knew Tony didn't understand what they could be facing. "Thank-you," he said.

Once they were ready they headed to the Latino restaurant beside the hotel, they found Mrs. Petro at a corner table sipping a cocktail. Tony introduced them and they sat down with her, ordered some food and drinks and got down to business. 

"Mrs. Petro, we're extremely sorry about the loss of your husband. But we would like to know more about the circumstances of his death and the days leading up to it," Carl said.

"Yes. Jamie had been in good spirits when we boarded the ship. We were celebrating our twelfth wedding anniversary, we had met a few other couples who were also celebrating things like anniversaries, engagements and honeymoons. We were having a ball," Mrs. Petro said.

"I guess cruises are the thing for couples celebrations," Carl said. He looked down to check the recorder in his lap.

"Well this ship, the Coral Princess is for that, they only have couple's cruises," Mrs. Petro said.

"They- what?!" Tony asked. 

"Are you sure?" Carl asked. This information throwing him for a loop.

"Oh yes, it's why we chose it. Everything was great until we had dinner in the captain's dining room, that's when we first experienced the flying plates. The first night we all thought maybe it was a part of a show or something. But when the blood came down the wall we started to be scared about it, it seemed to really bother Jamie. When we got back to our room he started crying, he said he just couldn't control it, I helped him calm down and we went to sleep. But the next day he was very moody and wouldn't eat breakfast with me, said he wanted to take a walk instead. I went on without him and the next thing I know I hear him scream and come out just in time to see- to see him jump," Mrs. Petro explained. She dabbed her eyes with a napkin, she was short with curly red hair down to her shoulders.

Tony patted her hand from across the table. "And you think the things that happened in the dining room had something to do with your husband's suicide?" he asked.

"Yes! Because other couples told me they also felt disturbed but it didn't affect them as strongly. Please, you've got to find out what it is. I don't want anyone else to die as a result of what is going on in that room!" Mrs. Petro begged.

"We'll get to the bottom of it, ma'am. I promise you," Carl said. By his tone both Mrs. Petro and Tony knew that he meant it.

'I spent the rest of our meeting together asking her to tell me whatever she remembered about the occurces. The plate throwing, the blood and the bad feelings happened on two separate nights and then repeated themselves. They always happened at 6:51 pm every night, and every night the ship's staff refused to comment on what happened- especially the captain. We ended our meeting with a goodbye to Mrs. Petro and a 'hello' to our present problem'...

"I can't believe New York didn't tell me this was a couples cruise!" Tony complained as soon as they got back to the room.

"It is a shock. But we can't miss this cruise just because of that. We'll simply have to pretend," Carl said. He put his hat on the desk in the corner of the room.

Tony knew he was right and that it would be easy for him, it might make telling Carl his real feelings easier. "Alright. I think we can do that. In that case we need to talk about a few things in case people ask questions," he said.

"Okay, well, New York got us separate tickets with our separate names so we'll just be dating. You can come up with the rest, I'm rusty on such matters," Carl said. He started undressing for the night.

Tony averted his eyes. "Been a while since you dated?" he fished.

"Since Vegas. I swore off people after that," Carl said. He never talked about that, never. He didn't know why he brought it up now, he could have easily made a joke instead.

"I'm sorry… I haven't thought about it in a while. But since I've been divorced it's been a year I have started thinking about it again. I'm not much good by myself, I like to have someone to love and look out after, you know?" Tony asked, sitting on the bed.

"Well I never was too good at that, the looking after I mean," Carl admitted with much regret.

"Well, maybe you need someone to look after you instead," Tony suggested.

"Maybe," Carl said.

"Anyhow, we'll have been together for two years and we met at work. We're on the cruise for a vacation and we'll put up appearances, the cruise line don't know we're reporters and it might go better for us if we could hide it for a while," Tony said.

"Now that's a good plan. I have a smart boss afterall," Carl smiled.

"Just get some rest, Kolchak," Tony said. But the crack made him smile, Carl made him smile, and he hoped to make that mutual before long.


End file.
